ST LUCIE COUNTY — Abandoned and derelict boats are piling up at Wildcat Cove off North Hutchinson Island in Fort Pierce, and residents say the vessels are creating dangerous conditions on the water.
WATCH BELOW: 'Flotilla of garbage. At least 15 boats. Needs to go,' Kevin Fitzgerald tells WPTV's Tyler Hatfield
Kevin Fitzgerald, who regularly navigates the waterway between Wildcat Cove and Jack Island Preserve, described to WPTV’s Tyler Hatfield what he sees on the water.
"It's just like a boat junkyard," Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald counted at least 15 boats in the cove, including vessels that have sunk.
"I see a couple of boats ahead of me where there was just one sunk, and now there's two sunk on top of each other," he said. “There's a boat a catamaran, that's on a sandbar.”
Fitzgerald said navigating the area is especially dangerous after dark.
"Most of them don't have lights," he said. "You come up on a boat when it's dark, it's right in front of you. You got to swerve or get out of the way. You got to watch for anchor lines and different things like that."
Fitzgerald called the situation dangerous.
"It's like a minefield," he said.
His friend Bart Plymale was also on the water and shared the same concern.
"It's a maze," Plymale said.
Plymale said he is also worried about environmental damage from the abandoned vessels.
"There's fuel on these boats or oil and whatever engines that are left on them, that's all ending up in the water right now," Plymale said.
WPTV went looking for answers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
FWC said enforcement action in surrounding counties and new anchoring requirements in St. Lucie County appear to be contributing factors to the influx of boats at Wildcat Cove.
FWC said it is actively investigating and that officers are in contact with at-risk vessel owners to bring their boats back into compliance. The agency said citations have been issued and vessels deemed derelict are going through the legal process before removal can be authorized.
Fitzgerald said he wants the cove cleared.
"Flotilla of garbage. At least 15 boats," Fitzgerald said. "[They] need to go."
